ELMS Set for Return to Spa-Francorchamps

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

The European Le Mans Series heads to Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, for its first race at the Belgian circuit since 2011.

The provisional entry list has been released, with 41 cars set to take to the penultimate round of the season.

ENTRY LIST: Four Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

A 13-car field will make up the top LMP2 class, following the addition of the Team WRT entry. The GT3 stalwarts will race a Ligier JS P2 Judd with Blancpain GT Series regulars Laurens Vanthoor, Will Stevens and Dries Vanthoor.

Meanwhile, Michael Munemann returns to the Algarve Pro Racing Ligier JS P2 Nissan, while Vitaly Petrov joins the SMP Racing lineup alongside Andreas Wirth and Stefano Coletti.

Murphy Prototypes’ lineup has been confirmed as Gary Findlay, Bruno Bonifacio and Sean Doyle, in another shake-up for the Irish crew.

Thiriet by TDS Racing still leads the standings after winning the last three races. The No. 46 trio is reunited this weekend as Ryo Hirakawa returns to the Oreca 05 Nissan after missing the last race for the Suzuka 1000 km.

LMP3 remains at 20 cars for Spa, and United Autosports is very close to claiming the class title. Alex Brundle, Mike Guasch and Christian England hold a 30-point lead in the standings with two races remaining.

This means that if the No. 2 Ligier JS P3 Nissan finished ahead of the No. 19 Duqueine Engineering and No. 9 Graff cars, and with a 27-point lead or more, the Anglo-American team will win the title in Belgium.

Of note, the LMP3 category has the series’ only full-season Belgian driver, Bert Longin. He is competing in the Race Performance car and will be looking for a home advantage this weekend.

The GTE title battler couldn’t be further from LMP3. Just eight points separate the top-three, led by JMW Motorsport’s Andrea Bertolini, Rob Smith and Rory Butcher.

Line-up changes include the return of Christina Nielsen and Matteo Cairoli to the Formula Racing and Proton Competition cars, respectively.

The Four Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is set for 2 p.m. local time on Sunday, with track action starting on Friday afternoon.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.